Scene 024
"Hello, Amy, are you here?" A voice broke through Amy's sleep. "Cat, are you sure she's here?"
Pushing herself into an upright position, Amy rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Computer, turn the Lights up. I'm here Kronk," she said. She looked over toward the big engineer standing just inside of her door.
As she stood, Amy gave Kronk a smile. "I'm sorry; I was still asleep. Come in, have a seat. I'll get us something to drink. So you want anything special?" She asked, stopping at the doorway to look at Kronk.
He took a seat at the table. "No, whatever you're having, is just fine with me, but no whiskey please," said Kronk, with a small laugh.
Amy gave an answering laugh. "So you heard about that?"
"Yes, Santi issued a warning about the effects of alcohol on us. When I asked her how she had come to find out about it, she told me about Jac's experience," he said.
"Poor Jac, nothing is going right for him." Amy laughed again and ordered breakfast drinks. She grabbed the drinks and sat down at the table across from Kronk. "Here's your drink with no liquor as ordered." Amy said, handing one of the drinks to Kronk.
"May I ask, why you are still asleep at this hour of the morning?" asked Kronk, reaching for his drink.
"I'm sorry; My talk with my mate yesterday drained all of my spare energy. Well, that and feeling his tension about being in a shuttle. You did know he is on his way here?" She asked, taking a sip of her drink and breathed deep.
A look of horror crossed Kronk's face. Hissing, he said, "What do you mean your mate is coming here? Cat, is this who we're getting ready to catch?" A far off, panicking look crossed his face.
"You don't need to worry Kronk. I will handle everything," said Cat, in a tone filled with reassurance.
"Relax Kronk; I've enough nerves and tension from myself and my mate. I don't need yours as well," said Amy, recapturing Kronk's attention. "Let's talk about the ship. You said the engine and transporter are the same. Only, one is just a bigger version of the other, correct?"
"Yes, that's correct," Kronk said, taking the first sip of his drink. His mind was still on the fact that Dammarow Heir was coming to the ship. "Mum, this is good. Can you have Cat transfer the recipe for this to my simulator?" For a moment, he seemed to forget about Dammarow Heir's impending arrival.
Nodding her head, Amy gave him a slight smile. "My question is, where or how do we get the energy to run the rest of the ship?"
"Some of it is solar power. The skin or hull of the ship will absorb any light it can, process, and store it in our batteries. They are stored between cargo bays five and six," said Kronk. "Solar Power . . . "
Interrupting, Amy said, "I know what Solar Power is, my planet uses it to some extent. It is not used widely because it is cheaper to use fossil fuels."
"The rest of the power comes from the engine when it changes from one polarity to another. The charge is so powerful, if we didn't have some place to store it we might get ourselves blown up. Until about twenty thousand years ago only half of our ships that had Polarity Engine ever came home. The charge from the switch would catch the ship on fire," explained Kronk. The more he explained to Amy, the calmer he seemed to become.
"Have you reviewed any of the technology from my planet?" At Kronk's nod, Amy continued, "So your saying, when we shift polarity it is similar to an atomic reactor?"
"Some what," said Kronk. He gave Amy a smile of approval.
"OK, that is one questioned answered. Now, for another," said Amy.
Kronk nodded and indicated that Amy should continue, while he took another drink.
"Well, it's not really a question, just an observation. I've put it to Cat, but I'd like to run it by you also?" asked Amy. Finishing off her drink, She looked to see if Kronk had finished as well. Seeing that he was done, she said, "Bring your glass and come to the simulator with me, please."
Excitement filled Amy and it flowed off her in waves. Kronk seemed to catch her excitement and stood up. With an inquiring look upon his face, he followed Amy into the kitchen.
"Cat said, the simulator doesn't make silverware. Silverware can't be made because it is made from metal and the simulator can't reproduce metals. Have you ever thought about making your silverware out of some other type of material? Or is there a reason it is just made from metal?" asked Amy, turning to see Kronk enter the kitchen area.
"No, I really never thought about it before. Silverware is just there, so I accept it just as I do the engine," said Kronk. A puzzled look came over his face.
"Well, I did and I would like for you to tell me what you think. Cat, do you have the plastic silverware program in place?" Amy's excitement almost displaced her feeling of worry.
"Yes, the simulator has been programmed for your request," said Cat. There was laughter in the sound that came across the com-unit.
Taking Kronk's glass and putting it back upon the simulator with hers, Amy ordered their disappearance. Then she ordered, "Silverware, two sets." Two sets of eating utensils, containing a knife, fork, and spoon, appeared in the simulator. Picking up both sets, Amy handed one to Kronk for examination.
Bending each piece back and forth, Kronk checked out how they responded. "Amazing. We've always used metal silverware on our ships. I don't know if anyone has ever thought to make it out of something else." Kronk fell silent for a moment. He stood for a moment thinking. "Cat, please program my simulator with these. I want to try them out for the rest of the voyage."
"All right, It will be as you asked," said Cat. "When Amy asked me about the silverware, I did some research and no one has ever tried to use another type of material to make eating utensils out of before."
Kronk looked at his timepiece and said, "I've got to go now. I've quite a bit more to do today." He put the silverware back on the simulator. "I'll come back another time to answer more of your questions. If that, is alright with you?"
Amy put down her silverware and followed Kronk to the door of the cabin. "Just one more quick question before you go." When Kronk stopped to look at her, she continued, "Where am I supposed to dispose of the pieces of this table?" She pointed to the broken coffee table.
"When you get a minute, just bring it down to engineering and we'll store it in an empty cargo bay," said Kronk. At the door, He briefly turned back and said, "Goodbye." The door closed behind him.
"He liked the plastic silverware, don't you think? I wonder why he was so upset about my mate coming here?" said Amy. Kneeling, she began to stack the broken coffee table, so it could make its trip to engineering.
"Your mate asked me to cover a few things with you about his type of discipline. He is a Master at Shinthry. It is the hardest mental and physical discipline upon Valdiar. There are harder mental or physical disciplines but not both. Your mate wants me to show you what a Master Shinthry can do. Go to the terminal and I will show you what it is all about," said Cat.
Giving a sigh and getting up from the floor, Amy went to the desk and sat at the terminal. She knew Cat wouldn't stop going on about it until she followed along. "Alright, show me what you want. I need to get rid of the coffee table."
Cat started up a video. It was a group of men and women doing, what Amy thought was, Martial Arts. Their movements were in a dance like motion. The dancers were all moving at once.
The video had no vocal sound track. But, the sounds of the practitioners landing and the sound of their arms and legs moving through the air was played. Amy has a feeling the practitioners were carrying on mental conversations.
The maneuvers became more and more elaborate. The practitioners spent more and more time in the air. Until, everyone was doing all of the maneuvers in the air. Never once did they touch the ground.
"There is no way I'll ever be able to do that. It would take a lifetime of training," said Amy. Her attention focused solely on the video.
"You are not expected to be able to do all of those moves. That group of exercises was performed by Masters of Shinthry and a novice isn't expected to be able to perform them. Your mate wanted me to give you a taste of what is possible with his discipline," Cat explained.
"Fine, I'll work with his discipline until I find one I want to learn," said Amy. Going back into the living area, She began to drag the parts of the table to the door.